Tough Love

Join the mailing list to learn more about how I do it as the mom of 6, organizing tips and tricks, why I love the Catholic church or how to throw a rockin' party, by subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting Team Whitaker!

Sometimes I’m good cop, and sometimes I’m not. I was the ‘not’ last night.

Typically, we do laundry on Sunday or Monday and it takes forever…we’re up to like 12 loads a week around here now that Luke has made his entrance. So, when an item is missed it has to wait another week. Tuck that little bit ‘o information in your cap.

I asked the boys to bring down their laundry and they had a blast throwing it off the two-story balcony down to the living room floor. Evidently, too much fun.

As I was making my way up the stairs, with just two loads left (whites and towels), I let out a screech and a “William Nicholas and John Paul Harris”. Yep, full names. Not happy. The boys had left an entire basketful of clothes still dirty, in their room. How in heavens name that happened I don’t know. Even more perplexing and frustrating is that they wore all those stinkin’ clothes in ONE WEEK! Oh, and for added bonus, some pee-soaked underwear were tucked in the bottom of the basket.

Oy.

So, I promptly piled up the dirty clothes in the middle of the room and told them those would be their clothes for the next week – socks, underwear, uniforms, you got it. Yup. Momma ain’t doing laundry for those two until they re-wear those clothes. Boys.

Funny, and not. You haven't lived as a Mom of boys (4 here) until you have gone on a "nose hunt" to find a pair of dirty underwear balled up under a bed or tucked in the way back of the bathroom sink. I once read a book written by a woman (mom of 12) who equivocated her endless laundry to a very tiny version of Cavalry. I'd have to agree!

HOWDY and welcome to life at Team Whitaker where I share life as it happens: big families, carpool, Catholicism,Texas Aggies, prematurity, DIY/organizing projects, sanity checks and the occasional glass of wine at 10am. You get real Kathryn. Unedited, honest and a little sassy. It's a Texas-sized honor to have you here! Contact me at [email protected]{Read More}